Mining Magazine May 2015 | Page 11

Anglo American : Digging Smarter , Not Harder
put enough detailed thought and planning into the concept and the feasibility stages of projects . This has not only resulted in cost overruns and delays but completed projects have then failed to live up to their expectations , and of course the financial expectations of shareholders ,” said Waller .
“ We are committed to learning from other industries and from our partners to embed 3D use in planning or , what is otherwise known as , smart or “ digital ” constructability and we are steadily moving towards building into our planning the ability to virtually construct and deconstruct buildings , plants and mines and the associated infrastructure many times over before we break ground . High fidelity imagery is an important part of this , enabling a detailed analysis of conditions remotely and testing this data — a process that has traditionally taken two to three weeks , can now be done in 20 minutes . As an industry , we must restore our shareholders ’ confidence in our ability to deliver what we have set out to , on time and on budget .”
Automation , which has long been a part of the mining industry , is another aspect FutureSmart™ looks
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